The Nike+ iPod "Security Flaw" and Journalists

KING5 News: UW Researchers Describe Nike+iPod Issues

Journalists, especially local television newscasters, seem to take great relish in scaring their viewers. Combine this with a superficial understanding of technology and we get this story from Seattle's KING5 news.

How to Make Much Over a Technological Nothing:

Step 1: Make sure to include a widely-popular consumer good.
Step 2: Use words like 'electronically' that way viewers immediately think something special is happening.
Step 3: Add in plucky-sounding underdogs, like UW grad students.
Step 2: Use hyperbole like 'innocent users' and 'nightmare scenarios.' Oh, and 'disturbing.'
Step 3: Show a demonstration which oversimplifies the actual problems with the scenario. For instance, to really track someone you'd need a network of devices strung out every 60-feet. If you just wanted to know if your target was home, you could use dozens of other methods to do the same thing, including casing their house. And, note if the stalker is standing there holding a laptop, couldn't he just stalk the person from about 60-feet away?
Step 4: Ignore the reality and problem of RFID devices, including RFID-enabled credit cards, for this goofy story.
Step 5: End with something like 'we contacted the company, but haven't received a response' to ensure that the story sounds secretive and vagely malevolent.